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Cost to ease Colorado ski traffic is at least $24M

DENVER — Colorado highway officials say it would cost at least $24 million to modify Interstate 70 to handle more eastbound traffic on Sundays when throngs of skiers return from mountain resorts to cities on the Front Range.

It’s unclear how the state would pay for the proposed “zipper lanes.” Lawmakers face a budget shortfall of up to $1 million next year.

The Denver Post reports that highway officials found no operational hurdles to the project.

It calls for temporarily converting one westbound lane into an eastbound lane on a 15-miles section to handle the surge of traffic on Sundays.

A highway department study says eastbound drive times would be cut in half in some stretches, but westbound vehicles would likely experience more accidents and longer drives.